A new day for after-school programs

It has been nearly 14 years since Congress last updated federal education policy — not because everyone was happy with the results of 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act, but rather because Congress just couldn’t agree on the legislation to replace it. But late last year, the fog finally lifted: Congress passed and the president signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act and, with it, some important new policies affecting after-school programs in Monroe community and across the nation.

After-school programs are a small part of the overall legislation, but they’re no small part of our community. Every afternoon more than 500 students participate in our 21st Century Community Learning Centers Afterschool programs. They are engaged in tutoring, homework help, dance, art, music and science, technology, engineering and math programs that promote skills and knowledge in each discipline that are essential for student success. These fields are deeply intertwined in the real world and in how students learn most effectively.

What’s great about the new ESSA legislation is that it renews and strengthens the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative for at least another four years. That’s the principal federal funding stream for after-school and summer learning programs, providing grants that allow more than 1 million children across the nation to attend after-school programs. Among other things, the law encourages innovative, hands-on learning, and adds a stronger focus on STEM, which is something that after-school programs are uniquely suited to deliver. The law also encourages after-school programs to beef up their offerings in financial literacy, workforce development, environmental studies, physical activity and nutrition education.

The law’s after-school provisions will create opportunities for students to be safe and constructively engaged in the afternoons. Their parents will be able to keep working in the afternoons, confident that their children are well cared for. More children will get homework help, be inspired by hands-on STEM learning, have opportunities for physical activity, and more.

But the new law also frames a challenge. Federal dollars are limited, and after-school programs are already strained to their capacity. What’s more, according to data from the Afterschool Alliance, the parents of more than 19 million children say they’d enroll their children in a program if one were available to them. But too often, it isn’t. That represents huge unmet demand, piled on top of budgets that are already stretched too thinly. And for all the virtues of the new education law, increased funding is not among them. That means programs will need to find new resources, and earn more support from existing sources to make good on ESSA’s promise.

So, as an after-school provider, my resolution for the New Year is to renew the push for more resources to serve our children. To supplement what many parents pay in fees, the after-school world will be looking for more support from school districts, local and state governments, as well as charities and business partners.

We’ve got a very long way to go before every child who needs an after-school program can have one. The new law offers hope for a new day for after school. Let’s all work together to be sure it arrives.

The author, Patricia Johnson, Project Director for 21st CCLC, Monroe City Schools, was selected earlier this school year by the Afterschool Alliance to serve as an Afterschool Ambassador for Louisiana.